Beyonce's Secret Surprise Album Breaks U.S iTunes Sales Record

According to Billboard magazine, Beyonce’s secretly released self titled album sold 617,000 downloads within three days of it’s release.  The album was released on the iTunes Store at midnight last Friday morning, Dec. 13.

The Beyonce album has seen the record number of sales solely on "word of mouth" via social media. Beyonce bypassed traditional distribution methods, including not making the album available to radio, or online streaming services. There was of course not the momentum of a lead single or music video leading up to the release date.
Here is more on the album release from Mashable.

How @Beyonce’s latest album spread around the world in seconds (animated map) #Beyonce http://t.co/f4v9ZCoLbI pic.twitter.com/tVaxWGyKXz
— Twitter Music (@TwitterMusic) December 16, 2013